Dray narrowed his eyes as he watched a portal opening in front of the group of five. Deay was standing in the courtyard outside the church with Elias, Givalich, Ria, and another member of the church named Terin. Terin was one of the best portal creators in the church and he is also one of the only members of the church that has been to volcanica before.
Elias would have created the portal for them to get to Volcanica but Elias told the group that he only has a portal that lead straight into what is now a volcano. it used to just be a regular mountain and it didn't use to be a volcano two hundred years ago, but ever since the fight between the dragons and the former demon lord, magma wouldn't stop leaking from the earth below the mountain and it changed the entire landscape into a volcano.
When Elias said this, Ria gave him a look of disbelief and she just ignored his obvious lie. Ria knew that Elias had a portal that could lead them straight to Volcanica and they wouldn't end up in a volcano at all! But Elias just didn't want to use it because he didn't want to meet the person that would be on the other side of that portal. Elias' portal would lead them straight to the former palace that Elias and Ria used to live in. The palace was destroyed ever since the dragon wars, but Ria knew that there would still be people living close to the palace. And one of those people would be Elias' sister, Eliss.
Eliss was the sister that Elias abandoned when he came to Aradite to find Givalich, and she was the one that was forced to take care of a failing kingdom in Elias' place when he failed to take care of his people after the dragon wars. Ria knew that Elias just didn't want to meet her, and to Ria, it felt like Elias was running away. But Dray and Givalich didn't know anything about all of that so they just accepted what Elias said.
Dray had no intention of dying because they landed right inside a volcano. Givalich would have been fine since her magic was fire-based but Dray and Ria would definitely die. So they all agreed that Terin would be the one to open the portal and they would go to the town that Terin once visited in volcanica. Terin had been to Volcanica before he stayed in a small village close to the outskirts of Volcanica called Plateau.
Terin told them that he had no idea what the village would be like now since it has been almost fifty years since he last went there, but once Elias heard about the village and who was in charge of the village, he immediately decided that he would rather go there. Everyone else also agreed that they would rather be in the village. Dray was carrying a simple backpack on his back. Dray didn't have that many things to pack so he just packed the bare necessities and some clothes that he could change into in case the one he was wearing got burned. Elias was also carrying a small bag on his back but Givalich and Ria weren't carrying anything at all.
It turns out that Givalich had something called an inventory and she just placed everything that she needed in there. Dray wanted to ask her to place his bag in there as well but he would rather not hear her tell him how she was doing him a favor. Dray wasn't close to anyone in this group since he was only here for the sake of the mission. The only person that bothered to ask Givalich to put their bag in the inventory was Ria. Elias didn't even look toward Givalich either and Dray decided he would do the same.
The portal finally opened in front of them and Terin nodded as Elias immediately walked through it. Dray also moved through it and he came out on the other side and squinted! It was daytime here! What the fuck? It was just nighttime on Aradite so why the hell is it day here? The light was very bright and Dray had to take some time to get used to it.
Volcanica is located in a different time zone from Aradite, so their day and night do not match. Dray had no idea that Volcanica was this far away from Aradite. His eyes finally adjusted to the daylight and he looked around to see that they were in some sort of forest. Strange trees with orange leaves were littered around the place and some fucking strange birds with two heads were flying around. Is this really Volcanica?
Elias didn't even bother saying anything to the group once they landed. He just turned in one direction and started to walk. Dray didn't know if Elias knew where they were going but Dray didn't have a choice about where to go. If he tries to move on his own in this forest, he might get lost, or worse he will meet something dangerous enough to kill him! So Dray just followed after the group and they all walked together.
The group walked for more than ten minutes before they reached the town that Terin spoke about before. It was only after he came out from the forest around him that Dray understood why they called the town Plateau. It was built on a literal fucking plateau right at the top of a mountain.
No wonder Dray was so tired! Dray just realized that he has been going uphill all this while and they just got to the top of the mountain. He just didn't notice because the slope wasn't that steep! They only walked for a few minutes, so that either means that the plateau wasn't that high or that Terin dropped them off at a point that was very close to the town;
They moved towards the town, and once they entered the town, Dray could see many people walking around and going about their day. The town was no different from a regular town back in Aradite! Dray found it a little disappointing and he wondered why Elias was making it seem like Volcanica was such a dangerous place now.
Slap!
A hand suddenly slapped Dray on the back and Dray turned to his left to see Givalich standing there. She spoke to him without even bothering to glance in his direction.
"Stay on your toes, boy. You might not notice it right now but these people are not friendly. Focus and you'll see what I'm talking about,"
Dray snarled at the fact that she touched him at all but he just shrugged her hand off and he focused as she said. That was when he finally noticed all of it. The subtle stares that were coming from all the people in the town. The lack of children playing and the obvious crowd that was starting to form behind them. Dray didn't notice at first because of how subtle it was. Even now, if he didn't focus, he wouldn't have noticed at all!
"What the fuck are they doing? Are they trying to attack us?"
Dray whispered this back to Givalich as he narrowed his eyes at the three men that were now openly glaring at him from the side. Dray already had a spell on the tip of his tongue and he was ready in case anything happens.
Slap!
Givalich slapped Dray at the back of his head again when she felt some bloodlust coming from him and Dray turned and glared at her! What the fuck is wrong with you!?
Givalich sighed in annoyance.
"Nothing like that, boy. Don't you dare start a fight here. It's Volcanica, not Aradite. People here don't trust easily and they don't just allow anyone into their towns. Especially not four strangers that look as suspicious as we do. Elias knows what he's doing so just keep your head low and follow him,"
Dray grumbled in annoyance and he turned away as he continued walking. If anyone attacks him then Dray will sure as hell fight back, but since Givalich said that Elias knows what he's doing, Dray will just trust that for now. Dray looked forward and he saw that Elias didn't even look disturbed by the looks that they were getting from the people all around them. Elias seemed far too calm and Dray couldn't help but wonder why.
Dray didn't know that Elias was from Volcanica and he also had no idea that Elias knew who he was going to meet with. If Dray knew this, then he would have been far calmer as well.
Elias walked up to the building at the edge of the town. This building was the town hall and it was also where adventurers would come to get their missions and talk to each other. Elias went in and walked up to the reception desk while ignoring the glares that they were getting from all the people inside the room as it went silent.
The woman standing at the reception desk also glared at Elias, but once Elias spoke, her eyes shot open in shock!
[Bring me the head of the guild]
The girl wasn't shocked because of what Elias said, instead, she was shocked because Elias spoke in the native language that Volcanica uses. The girl didn't recognize Elias, but once he spoke their language, she had a little more trust for him and she nodded as she went to call the guild head.
Dray couldn't understand a word of what Elias just said but he watched as the girl quickly moved away from her seat and walked to the back of the building. She came back later with an old man walking beside her.
Dray was surprised once the man came around because he saw a small smile on Elias' face once he saw the man. Dray didn't even know that the fucking bastard could smile! Dray thought that Elias lost his ability to smile a long time ago when he got that stick up his fucking ass, but it seems that Dray was wrong.
As the man got closer, Dray immediately knew that the man was a very proud person. The old man walked straight with an air of respect surrounding him. His eyes were sharp and even his white hair and wrinkled face didn't make him look as weak as it should.
This man was the leader of this town as well as the guild master that gave out all the missions to the adventurers here. As he got closer to the group, his eyes widened more and more until he was staring at Elias with a stunned look on his face.
This content is taken from freewebnove(l).com